Combined vehicle signal



May 26, 1936. L. H'. TUCKER COMBINED VEHICLE SIGNAL Original Filed July 12, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 26, 1936. L. H. TUCKER COMBINED VEHICLE SIGNAL Original Filed Jul 12, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3mm L H. Tucker Reissued May 26, 1936 Re. 19,990 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE Original No. 1,976,047, dated October 9, 1934, r Serial No. 622,147, July 12, 1932. Application i for reissue January 28, 1936, Serial-No. 61,243

7 Claims.

This invention relates to signal lamps for antomobiles and other vehicles and particularly to a signal by which any turning movement of the car to the right or to the left may be indicated. One of the objects-of the invention is to provide a signalling device of this character which will achieve a two-fold purpose, namely perform the usual and ordinaryfunctions of a license plate illuminator, and constitutes. signal and direc-' tion indicator, indicating any deviation in the course of the car either to the left or to th right.

A further object is.to provide a signal of this character which will constitute not only a license 15 plate illuminator and a direction indicator, but

also a stop signal of a particularly novel char- Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line 22 35 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the signal, with the front plate removed;

Figure 4 is an electrical diagram showing the connections from the switches to the several sigm nal lamps of the automobile.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section of the steering post showinga portion of the steering wheel and showing the switch mounted thereon;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of the switch,

5 a portion of the steering wheel being shown in elevation;

Figure '7 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the steering post adjacent the base 0! the post and showing the contacts carriedby the Q steering shaft, these contacts being shown'in section;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary plan view of another form of switch, the casing being shown in section.

5 Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3, it will be seen that the casing III of my signal is in the form oi a frustrated cone having an opening II in its wall. This opening" ll may be directed either upward or downward but is shown as being directed upward so as to discharge light upon a license plate as will be later stated. Extending axially through the lamp from the base I: thereof is a centrally disposed circular wall l3 defining a central lamp compartment ll. Extending radially from this wall I3 are the lateral horizontally extending walls l5, which with the casing and the wall It, define'a semi-annular compartment l6. Extending upward and rearward (or downward and rearward) from the wall 13 of. the compartment I4 is a. substantially arc- 5 uate wall- H which defines a compartment l8 opening at its lower end into the central compartment l4 and at its upper end registering with the opening I i in the wall of the signal casing lll. A transparent cover l9 of mica, cellu- 10 loid or any other suitable material is held in place over this opening II. The light from this opening is discharged upward against a license plate it thewall I1 is directed upward and rearward or downward against a license plate as desired.

Disposed concentrically to the wall l3, extending in a semi-circle is a wall which defines a semi-annular compartment 2i, the ends of which are closed by the walls l5. This compartment 2| extends rearward to the wall ll, 20

Over the face of the casing Hi is disposed-a cellulo'id or other transparent colored plate 22 and over this'a face plate 23 which has at its upper portion the words Turning left", at its lower portion the words Turning right, at its center 25 a circular opening 24, above this opening the word Stop" cut out from the plate, above the word Stop an arrow pointing toward the left and above the words Turning right an arrow pointing to the right. These words Turning left, Turnirig right", Stop" and the arrows are cut out from the plate so that when the compartments behind the plate are illuminated,

these words will be observed.

For the purpose of illuminating the central compartment H, I have provided a small threecandle power lamp 25. Also disposed within the compartment i4 is a fifteen candle power bulb 26. Disposed within the compartment 2|, and, therefore, behind the word Stop is a. lamp 2'! which 40 when energized will illuminate the word Stop. Disposed within thecompartment 20' behind the words Turning left" is a lamp 28 and disposed within the compartment l6 behind the words Turning right is a lamp 29. The lamp 25 is constantly energized at night to constitute a. parking lamp and also to illuminate the license plate, the lamps 26 and 21 are'both'illuminated when the brake is put on to thus illuminate the central compartment and the opening 24 and also illuminate the word Stop. The lamp 28 is energized when the machine is about to turn to the left, while the lamp 29 is energized when the machine is about to turn to the right.

The base of the casing is shown as mounted upon a vertical support 30 adjustably connected to a T-shaped bracket 30a. forming part of the support whereby the direction signal may be connected to the license plate supporting bracket of the car in such position that the light from the opening II will be discharged upon the license plate. Access may be had to the several lamps by removing the outer plate 23 with its inner sheet or pane of red transparent material. The means whereby the several lamps may be energized is illustrated in Figures 4 to 7.

In Figure 5, 3| designates the steering post of an automobile 32 the wheel thereon and 33 the steering shaft, the steering post being, of course, fixed in position. Mounted upon the wheel is a switch comprising a base 34, a casing 35 mountedupon the" base and having a longitudinally extending slot 35. Mounted upon the casing 35 is a button 31 with a switch contact 38 disposed within the casing, the button having a linker:- tending through the slot 35 and engaging the contact.

Disposed within the casing are the two contacts 39 and 40 insulated and mounted upon binding screws 4 I. The casing is mounted upon the steering wheel in any suitable manner. The sliding contact 39 is connected by a wire 42 to a source of current. The contact 39 has connected to it the wire 43 and' the contact 40 has connected to it the wire 44. These three wires extend down the steering post for rotation therewith and are, of course, suitably insulated as, for instance, by passing through a. rubber tube 45 as shown in Figure 7. v I

Mounted upon the steering post at its lower end is a casing 48 within which are disposed three brushes 49, 50 and 5|. These are urged by springs 52 inward. These brushes bear against three collector rings 53, 54 and 55 which are connected respectively to the wires 42, 43 and 44.

Leading from these three brushes are the wires 55, 51 and 53, the wire 55 leading to a battery 59, the wire 51 leading to the lamp 28 and to a ground, the wire 58 leading to the lamp 29 and to a ground. Thus when the switch button 31 is shifted to the left in Figured, the Turning left lamp 28 will be energized and when the button is shifted to the right in Figure 4,the lamp 29 11-- luminating theTurning right" signal will be energized. The lamp 25 as disclosed. in Figure 4 is connected on one side to the battery 59 by means of the wire 59 so that this lamp is constantly illuminated except when the switch 5i is thrown to an ofl position. Preferably, though not necessarily, a lamp 280, and a lamp 29a indicating "right and left movement of the car will be disposed at the frontof the car, the lamp 29a,

being connected to the wire 43 by means of the wire 52 while the lamp 29a is connected by means of the wire 53 to the wire 44 so that when the lamp 25 is illuminated, the lamp 280. will be illuminated and when the lamp 29 is illuminated, the lamp 29a will be illuminated. For the purpose of energizing the stop signal when the brake is applied, I connect the lamps 25 and 21 in athis is also true of'the lamp 21 which will illuminate the word Stop" both day and night. At night, however, the switch 6| is turned to a closed position which energizes the lamp 25 which thus constitutes a tail light and a license plate illuminator but when the brake is applied to stop, this central light brightens to eighteen candle power and at the same time the word Stop" is illuminated by the fifteen candle power lamp 21.

I thus provide for a constant illumination of the parking light or lamp 25, for an illumination of the stop signal lamps 26 and 21 when the brake is shifted to a braklngposition, and a selective illumination of the Turning left or Turning right signal by means of the switch button 31 mounted upon the steering wheel of the car. It will be understood, however, that this button might be mounted in another place without any departure from the spirit of the invention.

In Figure 8 I have illustrated another form 'of switch than that shown in Figure 6 in which the two contacts 43a and 45a are disposed withina casing 51, there being a switch lever 58 mounted within the casing and operating through an arcu ate slot and shiftable to engage the contact 43a or 45a, this switch lever being connected to the source of current.

I I have illustrated in' the drawings a signal wherein the central compartment is provided with a tail light bulb or lamp and a stop light lampand wherein there is also provided a stop lamp compartment with the word Stop.' adapted to be illuminated whenthe lamp in this compartment isenergized, yet I wish it distinctly understood that under some circumstances I desire that only a tail light bulb (three'candle power, for instance) shall be disposed within the central compartment and the stopping of the machine shall be indicated by the illumination of the word Stop" without any additional illumination of the central. compartment and 'the central opening through the face plate.

It will be seen that I have provided an accessory which is particularly compact and by which four functions' are secured, namely the provision of a tail light, the constant illumination of the license plate, this illumination causing the entire length of the license plate to be-lighted up'insteadof a 3 fraction thereof, permitting a stop signalto be illuminated upon the application of the brake, and providing for the illumination ofeither a turning left or turning right signal.- All of these several signals are enclosed in a compact casing which may be readily applied and which may be readily taken apart. I

I claim:-

1. A signal comprising a casing; a central partition extending from the front of the casing to the rear thereof said partition being tubular to provide-a. central compartment; transverse partitions extending from the wall of the casing to the partition and dividing the casing into two semi-annular compartments; a partition concentric to the centralcompartment andextending through one of the semi-annular compartments to the transverse partitions and defining a com-' opening at one end thereint'oand at its other end through the wall of the'casing, said duct sloping so as to throw light upon the face of a license plate disposed on a planeto the rear and side of said casing; means for supporting a lamp cooperating with the respective semi-annular compartments, a stop signal for the said concentric compartment, and a central clear signal cooperating with the said central tubular compartment to normally serve as a tail light.

2. A signal comprising a casing, a central partition extending from'the front of the casing to the rear thereof, said partition formed to provide a central compartment, partitions extending from the wall of the casing to the central compartment and separating the casing into two main compartments, a partition in one of the main compartments and formed to provide an auxiliary compartment between the central compartment and the outer wall of the casing, said central compartment having a communicating partition extending radially and rearwardly therefrom to' the outer wall of the casing to provide an inclined passage for projecting the light from the central compartment rearwardly of the casing, lamp bulbs mounted in each of said compartments, a facing plate connected to the front end of the casing and having an opening registering with the central compartment to provide a clear signal, said plate having indicia registering with the main compartments and cooperating therewith to provide a right and left turn direction signal, and indicia on the plate registering with the auxiliary compartment to provide a stop signal.

3. A vehicle direction signal including a casing having a partition extending from the front of the casing to the rear thereof and formed to provide a central compartment, transverse partitions extending outwardly from opposite sides of the central compartment to the wall of the casing to form two separate irain compartments, a partition in one of the main compartments and extending to the transverse partitions to provide an auxiliary compartment between the central compartment and the outer wall of the casing, said central compartment having an arcuate wall extending radially and rearwardly therefrom to the outer wall of the casing so as to form an inclined passage for projecting light outwardly and rearwardly from the central compartment, a lamp bulb mounted in each of said compartments, and

a face plate connected to the front end of the easing and having an opening registering with the central compartment to provide a clear signal, said plate having suitable indicia selectively registering with the compartments and cooperating therewith whereby upon the lighting of the bulb in any one of the compartments to give a proper warning signal. v

4. A vehicle direction signal including a casing having a partition extending from the front of the casing to the rear thereof and formed to provide a central compartment, transverse partitions extending outwardly from opposite sides of the central compartment to the wall of the casing to form two separate main compartments, a partition in one of the main compartments and extending to the transverse partitions to provide an auxiliary compartment between the central compartment and the outer wall of the casing, said central compartment having an arcuate wall extending radially and rearwardly therefrom to the outer wall of the casing so as to form an inclined passage for projecting light outwardly and rearwardly from the central compartment, a

lamp bulb mounted in each of said compartments, the bulb in the central compartment being disposed substantially at the intersection of the axes of the central compartment and the inclined passage, and a face plate connected to the front end of the casing and having an opening registering with thecentral compartment to provide a clear signal, said plate having suitable indicia selectively registering with the compartments and cooperating therewith whereby upon the lighting of the bulb in any one of the compartments to central compartment, transverse partitions extending outwardly from opposite sides of the central compartment'to the wall of the casing to form two separate main compartments, a partition in one of the main compartments formed so as to extend to the transverse partitions to provide an auxiliary compartment between the central compartment and the outer wall of the casing, an arcuate wall extending radially and rearwardly from the central compartment to the outer wall of the casing and through the auxiliary compartment to provide an inclined passage to project the light from the central compartment, a lamp bulb mounted in each of said compartments, and a facing plate connected to the front end of the casing and having an opening registering with the central compartment to provide a clear signal, said plate having suitable indicia selectively registering with the compartments and cooperating therewith whereby upon the lighting of the bulb in any one of the compartments to give a proper warning signal.

6. An electric signal system for vehicles including a,casing having an opening in its side wall, said casing being provided with a central compartment and a plurality of separate compartments formed between the central compartment and the outer wall of the casing, a wall extending radially and rearwardly from the central compartment to the opening in the casing to form a rearwardly inclined light transmitting passage, a faceplate closing said compartments and having independent signal indicia thereon each registering with an independent compartment, light means of variable intensity associated with the central compartment and thetradial passage, means'for varying the intensity of said last-mentioned light means, a light in one of the compartments for indicating the turning of the vehicle to the right, a light in another compartment indicating the turning of the vehicle to the left, and means for selectively energizing the right and left turn lights in accordance with the change in the forward direction of the vehicle.

7. An electric signal system for vehicles including a, casing having an opening in its side wall, said casing being provided with a central compartment and a plurality of separate compartmeiitsaformed between the central compartment and the outer wall of the casing, a wall extending radially and rearwardly from the central compartment to the opening in the casing to form a rearwardly inclined light transmitting passage, 9. face plate closing said compartments and having independent signal indicia including direction indicia each registering with an independent compartment, light bulbs in each of said compartments and said passage, 76

means for constantly energizing the bulb in said passage to constitute a tail light, the bulb in the central compartment being disposed substantially at the intersection of the axes of the the central compartment, a light in one of the compartments for-indicating the turning 0! vehicles to the right and a light in another compartment indicating the turning of the vehicle to the left, and, means for selectively energizing 5 the right and lett turn lights in accordance with the change in the forward direction of the vehicle.

LAWRENCE H. TUCKER. 

